Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
The Patriot Act and Connecticut Libraries
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 08/26/2005 - 15:21In today's New York Times is an article about the F.B.I.'s use of the Patriot Act in Bridgeport, CT and the ACLU suit that has been filed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/politics/26patriot.html
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 - Using its expanded power under the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, the F.B.I. is demanding library records from a Connecticut institution as part of an intelligence investigation, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday.
The demand is the first confirmed instance in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation has used the law in this way, federal officials and the A.C.L.U. said. The government's power to demand access to library borrowing records and other material showing reading habits has been the single most divisive issue in the debate over whether Congress should extend key elements of the act after this year.
In a discussion over at Connecticut Local Politics, there is a discussion about this where one person commented, “What's the big deal about library records?”. I wrote the following in response:
This Week on the DeStefano Campaign
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 08/22/2005 - 15:18(Cross posted from DeStefano for Connecticut.)
On Wednesday, from five to six in the evening, Mayor DeStefano will participate in Connecticut's first-ever, candidate-sponsored online Town Hall Forum. I encourage everyone to try and visit the blog at that time, read the comments and add your own comments. If you can’t join us then, please feel free to send the Mayor any questions or comments at john@destefanoforct.com. The Mayor has already received some great questions in the email.
I want to take a moment and wax philosophical about this. Lincoln spoke about a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”. Unfortunately, too often our government isn’t of, by or for the people. Too few people are registered to vote. Too few people actually make it to the polls. Too few people get involved in campaigns as volunteers or donors.
Participatory Democracy
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/25/2005 - 22:43I’ve been pretty busy with the DeStefano campaign recently, and haven’t been writing here as much as I should. I have been struggling with whether or not to put posts from the DeStefano campaign here, the way I have put posts to other sites. So far, I haven’t put many such posts here.
However, today, I will include one of my recent posts. As many of you know, we spent last weekend at Falcon Ridge, a folk festival we go to each year. As I sat and listened to the music, I thought a lot of participation in politics and participation in music. I hope to write more on this soon.
Connecticut Political Gossip
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 06/02/2005 - 08:12Updated to fix error. (See Comments)
(Note: I don't usually go for political gossip, and I'm not Wonkette, nor is this as juicy, but there is a bunch of political gossip going around that I thought should be shared.)
Last night, the Torrington DFA Meetup had various candidates speaking about their campaigns. Mayor DeStefano was there and in my role as BlogMaster for the DeStefano campaign I attended. However, the interesting parts of the Meetup weren’t Mayor DeStefano's stump speech. Sure, many people spoke with me afterwards saying, "He’s good." Instead, the political gossip was what captured a lot of people's attention.
Homeless Children, International, Redux
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 06/01/2005 - 14:44Early last month, I wrote this blog entry about Homeless Children, International - Kenya.
Today, I received an email from Megan White that Channel 12 will be showing a brief clip about her work starting this evening at around 5:20, and continuing for the next day.
If you get a chance, please check it out.
